


Between There Lies a Space

by ExtraAgave



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, If he has to grab some fabled tailed beasts, Tobirama aint got time for this, eventual madatobi - like the amount of slow burn it takes for sweet yams to cook, he gonna gets it done, if i dont make it, or background, then so be it, totally indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26040415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraAgave/pseuds/ExtraAgave
Summary: An unforeseen circumstance changes the trajectory of many. Tobirama will be damned if he would allow that to come to fruition. Touka doesn't quite understand but she sure as hell isn't going to allow the idiot of a little brother go off into enemy lands.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara, Senju Touka/Uchiha Izuna
Comments: 55
Kudos: 296





	1. Chapter 1

The onslaught of memories and chakra slammed into Tobirama like a bolt of lightning, overloading his mind and burning through the tight control he had on his chakra to ashes. 

Letting out a wounded cry, he blindly disengaged from his longtime rival. The wild fluctuation of his chakra caused the Uchiha to jump back in alarm. Izuna starred in alarm as the tight control of his opponent’s chakra broke like a dam, flooding from the man so much so that wisps of blue were becoming visible. 

Tobirama could barely make out an affronted screech from Izuna, so loud. He could vaguely register the Uchiha heir cursing up a storm and could not help but agree but for different reasons. Kami, his head .

His desperate attempts to regain control and tamp down the outflow of his chakra running rampant were largely unsuccessful. Between that and struggling to sift through the memories that had dragged his emotions into a cycle of despair and anger, it was all he could do to contain it to the area around him.

Further away from him, he could feel the entire field stilling in surprise and alarm at the abnormal flares. No one had expected it, least of all his own self. The temperature was starting to fluctuate, dropping rapidly and creating visible vapor that was solidifying. The ground beneath him had started to frost. 

And then two particularly bright points were speeding over too fast for him to want to deal with at the moment. Each evoked a mishmash of memories and the new emotions associated with them ran through him, too chaotic and raw for him to want to deal with. He was unable to truly block them with his threading control. 

It was one of the main reasons why he so despised losing reign of his chakra. It left him too open to the moods of those around him. Always too much, too personal and ravaging his mind raw with all the different pulls, none of them his own yet all attempting to consume his very self. 

Made him want to depend on others' chakra, those that were stronger than his. Making him want to curl in the warmth of that strength. He couldn’t allow himself to give in like that. 

In an unprecedented move that he later would adamantly state was a tactical retreat, he activated the newly derived Hirashin. He managed to mold just enough chakra to activate the new seal that he had planned to use against his foe and vanished in a flash of white-blue. 

Tobirama misses his brother closing his hands over empty air while Touka calls for their people to fall back. 

Tobirama misses his opponent’s alarm as Madara slams into Izuna and drags him back to their people, retreating back into the forest. Izuna is unnaturally quiet in his brother’s grasp, realizing with a chill that he couldn’t track this new technique. That had Tobirama used it against him, he would have most likely sustained an injury. He neglects to tell his brother who is frantically fretting as he looks him over for any telling wounds as they return home. He does not realize how truly worried Madara is suddenly because Madara had always thought that the two were equal. This new development was disconcerting. 

Later in the safety of their home Izuna would ponder as he allowed his brother, who seemed just a little bit more free with his hugs and pats, to do as he may without the usual complaints. 

He would not admit it but he had been shaken by the deep well of chakra that his rival had released. It was more than he had anticipated, having never truly managed to gauge until now. But what had truly surprised him was how human the supposed White Demon of the Senju clan looked. He would have never thought that Tobirama could have pulled such a look of regret and anguish when the man was renowned to be emotionless and cold. 

It made him wonder. 

Just enough. 

Tobirama has been lucky in his desperation, having landed himself in one of the caches that he had thought to mark as a test trial. It was located in a small enclave far enough from his clan and layered with enough protection seals for him to collapse into the dirt ground and concentrate inward. 

By the time he felt like he could sit up again, he had already thrown up twice. The second time being more of a dry heave, stomach clenching and remnant bile lining his throat leaving an acrid taste. He moved to lean against the rocky wall, the coolness was a blessed reprieve to his fevered cheek and slowing his mind that had been frantically sifting the memories with growing horror. 

If he had anything left in his stomach he would have been gagging again. 

His students (?) a shaky truce turned staunch and true, a war that spanned centuries oh sage, his brother. His death and then his revival. His own techniques, bastardized.

Zetsu. An enemy whose loyalty in his mother fostered the nation into a game board. Calculating in his methods. His mother, chilling in her rage. 

He had students and one of them had been an Uchiha. The brightest and kindest of them all. He left them to grow alone. He was so sorry. 

There was a village - it was so warm, safe. Happy. Hashirama has realized his dream. But it was broken. 

He had a granddaughter. She grew up beautifully strong and fierce. 

The world ending.

Another war, the Fourth War. How? 

Madara. Despair of a grief stricken soul. Manifested into a monstrosity. 

Madara. So alone, to die alone again. Unjust. 

He would change this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Indulging the soul. Is there an outline? No. About to see where this is going to take off. Yes.


	2. Chapter 2

Tobirama was quick to realize that his inaction during the battle had already created a divergence. Had this happened even a moment later, the outcome would have been much more dire. The gears would have immediately turned in motion toward what he had seen. It would have been near impossible to stem the tide of misfortunes that would damn the very world in generations to come, with Madara’s descent to madness as the catalyst. 

But Izuna survived; He had not been mortally injured and had departed with only minor wounds. Tobirama let out a small pulse of his chakra to check as he made his way back to the compound. From this distance, Tobirama could feel the steady thrum of Izuna’s chakra sparking chaotically against the more windlike fire of Madara’s chakra and the emberlike burn of the Uchiha Clan.

Tobirama remembered seeing a brief flicker of confusion and caution on Izuna’s face when they had disengaged from combat. Without a doubt, the younger of the Uchiha brothers had to be suspicious. There was little that Tobirama could do about that right now. So as long as Izuna survived; it would do well to keep the Uchiha clan intact. This boon could work in his favor.

What he had to work on now was the state of his own clan. Aside from the typical post battle buzz of agitation that draped the compound, he did not sense anything out of the ordinary. He doubted that Touka had allowed for the spread of what had happened to reach the other clan members and Hashirama would most likely divert any questions to why Tobirama had not returned with the group. 

He let out a small exhale, bracing himself as he dropped from the last tree and onto the worn path to the entrance.

No matter what was to come, Tobirama had to make it so that the balance of the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan be interwoven into the very foundation of the village. It could not be the lopsided patchwork that would allow for the manipulations of those outside of infiltrate so easily. Especially not the insidiousness of Zetsu. 

It grated at his own pride to see his own actions manifest in a way that helped facilitate the growing discord within the dream that Hashirama worked so hard to build into a reality. That it had fostered a growing divide that bled into generational wars where the children of the village were once again fighting clawed at his very soul. He would not allow this to happen. 

But in order to prevent that from happening, he had to ensure his own clan was unified and dismantle the last of Butsuma's remaining supporters and their hold. The last of them have been slowly burned out since Hashirama had taken over the inner workings of the clan. And with Touka having officially taken over their troops a few months ago, they were a far cry from where they had used to be. The transition to the younger generation of leadership had been all but set in stone. 

Leaning against the side of the entry gate was Touka, armor still donned and streaked with dust. He frowned as he warily approached her. It had to have been more than an hour since the skirmish. It was rare for her to wait as she was a stickler for cleanliness. She should have already gone to maintain her weapons but he could still see the flaking blood on the blade of her naginata.

The fact that she was there spoke volumes about her state of worry. He could see the slight pinch in her lips and he immediately opened his arms to show that he was fine.

“I am fine.” He said drily even as he allowed her to take a precursory inspection for signs of anything out of the ordinary. He was long use to her checking for wounds after coming back injured one too many times. Aside from the faint unease of his stomach, he merely had a few scratches. There was nothing that would warrant him needing to visit the healing ward. 

“It was a minor mishap.”

Touka scoffed in disbelief. Only Tobirama would dismiss a near loss of chakra control as a minor mishap. 

“That was unlike you,” replied Touka tartly once she finally finished her inspection. “It would do good for our fighters morale if you see them later.”

She watched as the younger tilted his head slightly before easily agreeing. Though she was still suspicious of whether Tobirama was truly well, they unfortunately had stalled for long enough. 

With a small sigh, she pushed herself off the wall and jerked her head towards the meeting hall, hair almost flicking him as he moved to follow her. As they headed over, she began to relay the rest of the news. Her tone grew more acerbic the longer she spoke, “It is both Elder Daichi and Riko this time. They are discontent that we had not had a clear victory, nevermind that we returned with less injuries than usual. They were livid when they had heard you disappeared.”

He let out a huff of shared irritation but stayed quiet as Touka continued. “Hashirama also received a response back from Uzumaki but is waiting for us to join before he shares the contents...”

It would be well into the night before the meeting would finally end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all picking this up - Y'all going to be stuck with me on this ride. :')   
> So... Plot... Should probably start planning that out soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Tap.

Tap. 

Tap.

Tap-tap. 

The sound was incessant and unhurried in a way that the culprit knew would gradually infuriate the man currently sitting across the room. 

Touka would give him a few more seconds before he would finally cave in annoyance. She could already see how tightly he was holding the brush, though she doubted there would be any errors in what he wrote. 

While she normally would take to reviewing her reports in the comfort of her own space, she wanted answers. From where she sat on the tatami, she continued to tap against the chabudai, increasing the force behind each beat. 

It would only be a matter of time. 

She smirked as she returned to skimming the report before her, pleased with what she read. They were finally up on their supplies this year, the allyship that had been suggested last year with the Akimichi Clan had finally yielded the surplus that Tobirama had projected. 

With this, they had one less thing to worry about in the upcoming winter. The stores would be well kept. And if all went well, they could potentially be able to work on solidifying their ties with the other two clans that were linked with the Akimichi. 

The hollow snap of wood had her looking over with a raised brow. 

“Another broken brush, Tobi? I thought you grew past that,” she said with concern, though her expression spoke bounds of how much she did not care. 

Tobirama glared balefully at his ink stained hand and then even more darkly at the cause of it all. “Go harass Hashirama if you’re going to be resorting to this pettiness.”

The scroll that he was writing on remained clean of any splatters. How droll. 

She dropped her smile, drawing herself up from her slouch. If he wanted to play like this, then so be it. She might as well get to the crux of her visit. 

“Why did you challenge them.”

He paused from wiping the ink, looking at her owlishly, red eyes squinting in disbelief. “You went through all of this for that?”

“I would do this for less,” she said with a scoff as she looked at her nails, she would need to file them down again. “No, what the hell was that shit that you pulled the other day?”

“You’ve mentioned time and again that you hated traveling to the Uzumaki clan. And after weighing our current state, I thought it would be better if I went instead.” 

“That was a sweet gesture, but off topic. The real reason, Tobi.” 

“That is the reason,” He muttered as he wet a new brush, but at her disbelieving scoff, he reluctantly continued, “I also thought that it was past the time for the elders to be making those types of decisions.” 

Touka blinked, annoyance temporarily giving way to confusion, “I have spared no tears at dismissing them, but you were the one that said before that it was too soon to push them out.”

The room fell into silence as Tobirama frowned, eyes staring blankly at the scroll before him. No doubt, he was thinking about back then. 

It was one of the first things Hashirama had demanded when he had first become head. He had wanted to turn a complete new leaf and move past their violent history. However, Tobirama had vehemently been against it, arguing that they weren’t ready yet. 

Touka ranked it as one the most heated arguments that the two brothers had gotten into. Far and few as they were, there were no feelings spared when it did happen. Both of them were coming down from the adrenaline of emotions due to their father’s death which had left the clan blindsided. 

Hashirama had seen it as a chance to finally change the status quo and was frustrated that Tobirama seemed to be going against what he thought were shared opinions. 

But Tobirama had been thinking about protecting the clan itself first. He had argued that for all that Hashirama was strong, he still wasn’t ready to manage the clan alone. There was wisdom in keeping those with experience even if they were part of Butsuma’s creed. 

But with feelings of frustrations running high as neither wanted to listen to the other's reason, it had easily gotten physical. 

Hashirama did eventually agree to Tobirama’s call, though it was clear that he was still very against it. Touka always thought that it was a bit more troublesome than it was worth. While Hashirama did briefly benefit from having them advise, the elders were desperate to keep any semblance of power and would constantly try to jab at the integrity of the clan. 

Tobirama had stayed stubborn in saying that it was what they needed at the time but even he could see they were fast to outstrip their use. 

So she wasn’t wrong to say that it was a surprise to everyone at the meeting when he abruptly suggested absolving the elder’s duties. And that was after he said that he would personally make sure the response for the Uzumaki clan would be returned. 

The elders had sputtered their outrage and betrayal while Hashirama had immediately grabbed the chance despite his initial shock. 

They had been fuming, probably still fuming, but the majority of the clan didn’t seem particularly swayed by their indignation. In fact, Touka had even heard whispers of support and relief when she had walked through their compound earlier. 

Finally there was a hint of embarrassed discomfort that flashed on his face before he mulishly looked at Touka, determination in his eyes, “I have always believed in anija’s hopes but I never put my fullest efforts because of my own pride and doubts.

“I thought it would be time I support him properly.” 

“It’s times like these that I am suddenly reminded of the fact that you two are brothers.” The report slipped from her lax grip, disgust apparent, as she abruptly stood up, “You can drop these off to him, I’m going to check on our squads.”

The affronted indignation was deserved as she left. 

To think she had been worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, he’s distracting you, Touka. there’s motives. You’re relaxed now but you’re going to have a lot of headaches soon.  
> this is supposed to be serious but Touka point of view was radiating troll energy. It is agony :’)

**Author's Note:**

> Indulging the soul. Is there an outline? No. About to see where this is going to take off. Yes.


End file.
